Stacked storage bins



Oct. 17, 1967- STACKED STORAGE BINS Filed Oct. 26, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l3A g 1 J n' M ".--29 FIG. 1 I 22 INVENTOR GEORGE J. GOULD ATTORNEY G. J.GOULD 3,347,394

Oct. 17, 1967 G. J. GOULD STACKED STORAGE BINS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed001;. 26, 1966 INVENTOR GEORGE J. GOULD ATTORNEY United States Patent '03,347,394 STACKED STORAGE BINS George J. Gould, 791 Meacham, Elmont, NY.11003 Filed Oct. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 589,740 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-126) Thisinvention relates to storage bins for small parts or articles, whereinthe bins are adapted to be stacked one upon the other, and an object ofthe invention is the provision of certain new and useful improvements insuch bins which result in secure stacking and interlocking of the binswhile permitting easier handling of the articles particularly inextracting them from a bin.

Another object of the invention is the provision of novel features ofconstruction whereby the useful life and durability of the bins isenhanced.

The above broad as well as additional and more specific objects willbecome apparent in the following description wherein reference numeralsrefer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to benoted that the drawing is intended primarily for the purpose ofillustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended tolimit the invention necessarily to any or all of the details shown ordescribed except insofar as they may be deemed essential to theinvention.

Referring briefly to the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a stacking bin embodying features of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the bin, showing also in phantomfragmentary outlines of bins stacked both above and below the said bin.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the said bin.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view, partly in phantom, with parts brokenaway and partly in section, of three stacked bins, with only parts ofthe top and bottom bins being shown.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of two stacked bins.

Referring in detail to the drawing, three identical bins are shown at10, 11, and 12; it is in order to bring out and clarify the stacking andlocking features of the bins that three bins are shown. Since all thebins are identical, however, like parts of the various bins shown bearthe same reference numerals, and in describing the bin it is to beunderstood that all the bins are included.

Each bin includes a floor or bottom wall 13, side walls 14, a rear wall15, and a forwardly and upwardly sloping partial front wall 16. The sidewalls 14 include forward portions 14a which project forward with thecontour of an obtuse angle, as shown, whose apex is at approximately thelevel of the midlines of the side walls. The partial front wall 16,which may be hereinafter termed merely the front wall, terminates in anupward direction at the same horizontal level at which a ledge 17 isformed, and from the forward edge of the ledge a fiat lip 18 extendsangularly downward. This lip has a lesser width than that of the bottomwall 13 and provides a finger grip for handling the bin. The ends of thespace between the lip 18, the ledge 17 and the wall 16 are closed bywalls 19.

A continuous flange 20 extends around the top of the side walls and rearwall of the bin as well as downward on the top edges of the side wallextensions 14a. This flange is set back outward from the top edges ofthe side walls and from the top edge of the rear wall; the setback 0nthe rear wall is of greater degree than that on the side walls. Hencethe ledges 21 on the side walls are of lesser width than the ledge 22 onthe rear wall 15. The

greater setback of the flange on the rear wall provides a rearwardlyextending overhang 23, from close to the outer edge of which arectangular tongue 24 extends. Intermediate its width, the rear wall 15has a relatively Wide flat thickened portion 25 extending from thebottom surface of the bottom wall 13 up to the overhang 23. Thus,between the tongue 24 and the upper portion of the portion 25, there isa rectangular space or groove, by means of which the bin, when removedfrom a stack, may be supported on a rail, not shown, which may registerwithin the said groove.

The side walls 14 are similarly provided with thickened portions 26 onthe outer sides thereof approximately intermediate their width. On theirinner surfaces, and positioned close to the forward ends of the bottom13,

, the side walls have thickened portions 27 rising from the floor of thebin to the ledges 21, thereby providing a widened area to the ledges 21by addition thereto of the flat top surfaces 28 of the portions 27.

As is seen in the drawing, the bins 10, 11 and 12 are stacked one abovethe other, with the bin which is above another having its bottom wallresting on the ledges or shoulders 21 and 22 within the confines of theflange 20. As is clear in FIGS. 6 and 7, access to any bin below the topone is readily had by extending the fingers of a hand through the spacebetween the forward portions of the upper and lower bin; this isindicated by the arrows A in FIG. 6. i

It is desirable to interlock the various bins in a stack for obviousreasons, one of which is to prevent longitudinal sliding of a bin whilereaching into it or extracting an article or articles from it. For thispurpose a recess 29, preferably cylindrical, is formed at the rear ofthe bottom wall 13, and a complementary pin 30 is provided extendingupward from the shoulder 22. Additional interlocking of the stacked binsis obtained by the provision of two upstanding lugs 31 on the shoulder22, spaced from the pin 30, and projecting forward from the rear portionof the flange 20. Complementary sockets 32 are provided cut into thebottom and rear walls so that they are enterable by the lugs 31simultaneously from below and through the rear wall.

Since the entire bin is unitary and molded of a plastic material which,in the preferred form, is one known under the name Duralene, and inorder to provide a greater height and depth for the sockets 32 than thethickness of the walls 13 and 15, the material enclosing the sockets is,so to speak, pressed inward and upward, thus avoiding any open passagesthrough these walls. The same is true for the recess 29 which receivesthe pin 30; that is, the height of the recess is greater than thethickness of the bottom wall 13, so that some material of the latter is,again so to speak, pressed upward to provide the enclosure in which therecess is formed.

As a result of use and handling as well as repeated insertion of thefingers or hand into a bin to extract a piece or part contained therein,the side walls 14 including the portions 14a, at the front of the bin,tend to become spread in time, so that Without suitable provision toaccommodate for the spread the shoulders 21 are not sufliciently wide tostably support the forward portion of the bin above. The areas 28 at thetop of the slab-like thickened portions 27 on the inside of the sidewalls 14, then serve to provide support for the forward end of the bin.This provision is preferable to making the side walls thicker in thefirst place, which would entail needless additional cost of material,and it also reduces the volume or capacity of the bin to a far lesserextent than would thicker side walls.

It is apparent from all of the foregoing that the bins when stacked arealso interlocked to maintain the stack in stability at all times andparticularly while any of the 3 contents in any of the stack of bins isbeing withdrawn.

It is to be noted, particularly in FIG. 6, that the pin 30 of each binis offset a short distance rearwardly of a vertical line through thecomplementary recess 29, and that the lugs'31 are similarly offsetrearwardly the same distance from a vertical plane through the sockets32. As a consequence, when the bins are stacked each bin is positionedslightly rearward of the next lower bin.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to theconstruction shown in the drawing such is not to be construed as alimitation upon the invention which is best defined in the accompanyingclaims.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is asfollows:

1. A plurality of unitary plastic storage bins adapted to be stacked oneupon another wherein each of said bins consists of a bottom wall, sidewalls, a rear wall and an upwardly and forwardly sloping front wallextending upward to approximately one-half the height of said side wallsthereby providing an entrance passage into each of the stacked binswhich are positioned below the topmost of the stack, a continuousoutwardly offset upwardly extending flange on the top edges of said sidewalls and said rear wall providing a continuous internal shoulder onsaid side walls and said rear wall, the rear portion of said flangewhich is on said rear wall being offset a greater distance than theportions of said flange on said side walls whereby the internal shoulderon said rear wall has a greater width than said shoulders on said sidewalls, said internal shoulder on said rear wall having a pin extendingupward therefrom at a position substantially intermediate the lengththereof and spaced from said rear portion of said flange, each of saidbins having a recess extending upward in the bottom wall thereofadjacent the rear wall thereof and positioned a distance forward of avertical line through said pin, said pin being complementary to saidrecess, said bins when stacked as aforesaid having the bottom of one binresting on said continuous internal shoulder of the next lower bin andthe pin on said next lower bin registering in said recess of said onebin.

2. A plurality of bins according to claim 1, wherein each of said binshas two spaced lugs extending upward from said internal shoulder on saidrear wall and forward from said rear portion of said flange, said lugsbeing positioned near but spaced from said portions of said flange onsaid side walls, each of said bins having sockets complementary to saidlugs extending forward through the lower edge of said rear wall andupward through the adjacent portion of said bottom wall, said socketsbeing positioned a distance equal to said first-named distance forwardof a vertical plane through said lugs, said bins when stacked asaforesaid having said lugs of said next lower bin registering in saidsockets of said one bin.

3. A plurality of bins according to claim 2, said side walls having onthe insides thereof slab-like thickened portions extending verticallyupward from a position adjacent the front edge of said bottom wall tothe level of said internal shoulders on said side walls, the topsurfaces of said thickened portions lying in a common horizontal planewith said internal shoulders.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,003,839 10/1961 Bloom et al.312-l11 3,252,614 5/1966 Evans 22097 3,259,269 7/1966 Asenbauer 220973,270,913 9/1966 Bridenstine et al. 22097 ROY D. FRAZIER, PrimaryExaminer.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A PLURALITY UNITARY PLASTIC STORAGE BINS ADAPTED TO BE STACKED ONEUPON ANOTHER WHEREIN EACH OF SAID BINS CONSISTS OF A BOTTOM WALL, SIDEWALLS, A REAR WALL AND AN UPWARDLY AND FORWARDLY SLOPING FRONT WALLEXTENDING UPWARD TO APPROXIMATELY ONE-HALF THE HEIGHT OF SAID SIDE WALLSTHEREBY PROVIDING AN ENTRANCE PASSAGE INTO EACH OF THE STACKED BINSWHICH ARE POSITIONED BELOW THE TOPMOST OF THE STACK, A CONTINUOUSOUTWARDLY OFFSET UPWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE ON THE TOP EDGES OF SAID SIDEWALLS AND SAID REAR WALL PROVIDING A CONTINUOUS INTERNAL SHOULDER ONSAID SIDE WALLS AND SAID REAR WALL, THE REAR PORTION OF SAID FLANGEWHICH IS ON SAID REAR WALL BEING OFFSET A GREATER DISTANCE THAN THEPORTIONS OF SAID FLANGE ON SAID SIDE WALLS WHEREBY THE INTERNAL SHOULDERON SAID REAR WALL HAS A GREATER WIDTH THAN SAID SHOULDERS ON SAID SIDEWALLS, SAID INTERNAL SHOULDER ON SAID REAR WALL HAVING A PIN EXTENDINGUPWARD THEREFROM AT A POSITION SUBSTANTIALLY INTERMEDIATE THE LENGTHTHEREOF AND SPACED FROM SAID REAR PORTION OF SAID FLANGE, EACH OF SAIDBINS HAVING A RECESS EXTENDING UPWARD IN THE BOTTOM WALL THEREOFADJACENT THE REAR WALL THEREOF AND POSITIONED A DISTANCE FORWARD OF AVERTICAL LINE THROUGH SAID PIN, SAID PIN BEING COMPLEMENTARY TO SAIDRECESS, SAID BINS WHEN STACKED AS AFORESAID HAVING THE BOTTOM OF ONE BINRESTING ON SAID CONTINUOUS INTERNAL SHOULDER OF THE NEXT LOWER BIN ANDTHE PIN ON SAID NEXT LOWER BIN REGISTERING IN SAID RECESS OF SAID ONEBIN.